DILI, May 15 (IPS) - Journalists in East Timor are anxiously waiting
for a set of media laws to be revised after a negative reaction to a draft
that was circulated in March.

Portuguese Lawyer Isabel Duarte was hired to draft the laws by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on behalf of the government.

She presented a set of five laws at a meeting with the press on Mar. 17
in Dili. Journalists were vocal about their concerns that the laws could
restrict freedom of the press.

Local reporters are worried about proposals to set up a media council
with the power to fine journalists as well as issue and revoke journalistsí
licenses. Members of the media council would be appointed by the National
Parliament while fines collected would go towards the councilís budget.

UNDPís Media Development Representative Miguel Caldeira said,
"We held six months of consultations with journalists. These five
draft laws are the result of a study done by Isabel [Duarte] on the
advantages and disadvantages of having one or more laws. She decided after
listening to everyone to put it into five."

A number of international organisations weighed into the debate and
suggested that Duarteís draft had a number of shortcomings.

Ken McKinnon, of the Australian Press Council, said in a statement that
the draft laws could "greatly affect the operation of a free press in
the worldís newest democracy."

John M. Miller, national coordinator of the East Timor and Indonesia
Action Network, told IPS, "A free press must be that, with the fewest
possible restrictions. Should the government feel it necessary to
designate who and who is not a journalist for any purpose, the criteria of
who is a practicing journalist should be broad. Otherwise, the licensing
of journalists or provision of media passes can undermine a free press and
contradict the evolving nature of media.

"The fledgling East Timorese media can certainly stand
improvement, but this can best happen from professional development,
greater investment and less fear of offending the powerful," Miller
continued. "The proposed law could have the opposite effect on the
last two."

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance released a statement saying,
"The proposed media laws cover a wide range of matters from access to
information to community broadcasting, but are headlined by a draft media
law and media council law. These billsÖ represent a stumbling block to
the young nationís path towards democracy and economic stability."

After initial discussions on Mar. 17, Duarte held two further meetings
with journalists and members of the Commission of Legislation for Social
Communication (Kolkos), a body made up of members of the media and the
private sector to monitor laws affecting press freedom.

Caldeira added, "Since Isabel [Duarte] came, she met the
journalists twice and she got all their recommendations. She listened to
them and included all their suggestions because this is their draft as
well."

With Duarte back in her native Portugal, the draft is in the hands of
UNDP to perform the finishing touches on the laws. "There is no
pressure to rush or speed up the process. We want to make sure the
documents are OK," said Caldeira.

Member of Parliament (MP) Fernanda Borges is the chair of Committee A,
the parliamentary body responsible for assessing the laws.

"Itís not just regulating a bunch of workers - itís about
freedom of speech, itís about making sure that is always occurring in
East Timor," she said. "We need to understand our capacity in
the country to be able to do things. The less complicated laws are for a
country like East Timor, the better and the easier it is to implement and
for people to embrace and abide by."

Duarte, who refused to be quoted by IPS unless her answers were printed
in full and accompanied by translations in Portuguese, said she is
concerned about how events have unfolded since March.

The draft belongs to parliament and should only be up for public
discussion once representatives from parliament have given their blessing
to a single version, said Duarte, adding that she believes the usual
circumstances for discussing the draft were changed to make up for a lack
of work done by Committee A.

Virgilio Guterres, president of the Timor Lorosaíe Journalistsí
Association, said, "The logic of the process should be the other way
around. UNDP and lawyers should assist Timorese journalists to draft the
new law. They should listen to what the Timorese want to happen and then
introduce that in legal language to become law, not arrive with a legal
draft and ask the journalist to discuss it."

Meanwhile, Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers Hermenegildo
Pereira said that while it is unlikely that Timor-Lesteís media laws
will be ready until 2010, a press council should be formed based on
Article 15 of the Indonesian Press Law.

According to Article 15, the press councilís membership would
comprise journalists, media managers, public figures and media experts,
while the councilís purpose would include protecting press freedom and
mediating between the media, the government and society.

In 2004, East Timor was already in the initial stages of setting up its
own media law.

Borges added that she has urged local journalists and Kolkos to come up
with a fresh draft, but nothing has been done yet.

If the process takes too long, there is a danger that the National
Parliament might be forced to implement a law that nobody is happy with,
she warned.